The effect of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on yield and yield components of crops based on different cropping systems in south west Nigeria

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1 International Journal of Manures and Vol. 1 (5), pp , May, Available online at International Scholars Journals Full Length Research Paper The effect of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on yield and yield components of crops based on different cropping systems in south west Nigeria Adebola K, Ayo C. Boma and Tosin D.E Department of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. Accepted 28 April, 2012 Field experiments were conducted in two villages (Oniyo and Moloko Ashipa) representing two agro ecologies in the south west area of Nigeria during 2000 and 2001 cropping seasons. The objective was to determine the effects of NPK fertilizer and poultry manure on the yield and yield components in cassava/maize/melon systems. The factors were (1) cropping systems: cassava/maize/melon, sole cassava, sole maize and sole melon; and (2) fertilizers: no fertilizer, NPK (400 kg/ha), poultry manure (5 t/ha), 2.5 t/ha poultry manure kg/ha NPK and mineral fertilizer (NPK ). Intercropping had no significant effect on cassava root yield but it reduced maize and melon seed yield compared to sole cropping. Land equivalent ratio (LER) values were however higher under intercropping than sole cropping. Crop yields were statistically the same under NPK alone and NPK + poultry manure but significantly higher than both poultry manure alone and control in both locations. Key words: Poultry manure, NPK, Cropping system, intercrop. INTRODUCTION Bush fallowing has been an efficient, balanced and sustainable agricultural system for soil productivity and fertility restoration in the humid tropics. Its success, however, depends on unlimited availability of land and small farming population. The system is presently unsustainable due to high population pressure and other human activities which have resulted in reduced fallow period (Steiner, 1991). Intensive cropping is becoming more common and the primary function of soil productivity and fertility restoration through fallow has become less effective (Okigbo, 1982). Increased cropping intensity has however been found to accentuate such changes as erosion of top soil, degradation in soil physical condition, deteriorating nutrient status and changes in the number and composition of soil organisms (Okigbo, 1982). The judicious management and conservation of the soil to guide against these problems that eventually lead to decreased crop yield under inten- *Corresponding author. Adebola73@yahoo.com. sive cropping have become major areas of agronomic research (Brechin and McDonald, 1994). The use of inorganic fertilizer has not been helpful under intensive agriculture because it is often associated with reduced crop yield, soil acidity and nutrient imbalance (Kang and Juo, 1980; Obi and Ebo, 1995; Ojeniyi, 2000). Soil degradation which is brought about by loss of organic matter accompanying continuous cropping becomes aggravated when inorganic fertilizers are applied repeatedly. This is because crop response to applied fertilizer depends on soil organic matter (Agboola and Omueti, 1982). The quantity of soil organic matter in the soil has been found to depend on the quantity of organic material which can be introduced into the soil either by natural returns through roots, stubble, slough off roots nodules and root exudates or by artificial application in the form of organic manures which can otherwise be called organic fertilizers. The need to use renewable forms of energy and reduce costs of fertilizing crops has revived the use of organic fertilizers worldwide. Improvement of environmental conditions and public health important reasons for advocating increased use of organic materials (Seifritz,

2 Adebola et al. 092 Table 1. Initial soil test values of sites used for field studies at Oniyo and Moloko-Ashipa. Soil parameter Oniyo Moloko-Ashipa % Clay 3 5 % Silt %Sand PH Organic C (g/kg) Total N (g/kg) Ca (cmol/kg) Mg (cmol/kg) K (cmol/kg) Na (cmol/kg) CEC (cmol/kg) Available P (mg/kg) ; Ojeniyi, 2000; Maritus and Vlelc, 2001). The benefits derivable from the use of organic materials have, however, not been fully utilized in the humid tropics partly due to the huge quantities required in order to satisfy the nutritional needs of crops, transportation as well as the handling costs which constitute major constraints. Complementary use of organic manures and mineral fertilizers has been proved to be a sound soil fertility management strategy in many countries of the world (Lombin et al., 1991). High and sustained crop yield can be obtained with judicious and balanced NPK fertilization combined with organic matter amendment (Kang and Balasubramanian, 1990). A system integrating different practices of soil fertility maintenance is required and this will include the use of mineral fertilizer, organic manures and intercropping which provides a fast and good ground cover and also allows the roots to exploit soil nutrients at various depths (Steiner, 1991). The traditional farmers seem to have unconsciously designed their cropping system with a view of maintaining the fertility status of the soil because intercropping produces a stable and sustainable agroecosystem in the humid tropics. Farmers in the south western part of Nigeria practice intercropping with a wide range of crops consisting usually of a major crop and other minor crops. Crops like cassava, maize, yam and plantain are planted as major crops while melon, cowpea and vegetables are minor crops in various parts of the region (IITA, 1990). Cassava, one of the most important food crops widely grown in several countries in sub-saharan Africa, is well suited to intercropping with short-duration crops such as maize, melon, cowpea, okra and several leafy vegetables. The crops are selected on the basis of differences in growth habits and can be combined in either simple or complex mixtures. Complex mixtures consisting of three or more crop species are known to give higher financial and calorie returns (IITA, 1990). In view of the foregoing, a study was conducted to determine the effects of NPK fertilizer and poultry manure on the yield and yield components of cassava, maize and melon under sole and inter cropping systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS Field experiments were conducted during the 2000 and 2001 cropping seasons in the adopted villages (Oniyo and Moloko- Ashipa) of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T). Oniyo (latitude 8 20 N; longitude 4 20 E) is in the derived savanna agro-ecological zone of Southwestern Nigeria. The average annual rainfall varies from 1000 to 1150 mm and distributed over seven months with a short dry spell in August. Moloko- Ashipa (latitude 7 01 N; longitude 3 33 E) is in the lowland rainforest agro ecological zone of Southwestern Nigeria. The average annual rainfall varies from 1000 to 1350 mm and has a bimodal distribution. The farm sites for the experiments have been previously cropped to crops such as maize, cassava and cowpea with little or no mineral fertilizers application and inconsistent fallow periods. The dominant soil of the experimental areas in Oniyo and Moloko-Ashipa is Alfisol (USDA, 1975). The soils are well to moderately well drained and have a low nutrient status. Before planting in 2000, surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were collected from fifteen points from both sites and were then bulked for routine analysis. The nutrient contents of the soils are presented in Table 1. The poultry manure applied contained 1.98% N, 1.74% P, 5.25% Ca, 2.00% K and 4.79% Mg. The experiments were laid out as a 4 x 4 factorial in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The factors were (1) cropping systems: cassava/maize/melon, sole cassava, sole maize and melon; (2) fertilizer: no fertilizer, 5 t/ha poultry manure (PM), 2.5 t/ha poultry manure kg/ha NPK and 400 kg/ha NPK The treatments comprised all possible combinations of four cropping systems and fertilizer levels. The plot size was 4 m x 5 m. Sites were ploughed and harrowed, and the plots were laid out according to the design of the study. Organic fertilizer was applied a week before planting. It was uniformly spread on the plots and lightly worked into the soil with hoe. Inorganic fertilizer was applied 3 weeks after planting by ringing around maize plant. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) variety TMS 30572, a popular improved variety among local farmers was planted. Maize (Zea mays L.) variety planted was DMR-LSR-W while a local variety of melon (Colocynthis citrullus L) was used. Planting was done on the flat in May of each year at Oniyo and Moloko-Ashipa. Cassava, maize and melon were planted at the same time. Cassava was pla-

3 093 Int. J. Manures Table 2. Effect of cropping systems, NPK and poultry manure on yield and yield components of maize in at Oniyo. Grain yield (t/ha) Cob weight (g) Cob length (cm) Weight of 1000 Treatments grains (g) Cropping systems Sole cropping 2.13a 2.19a 59.53a 59.03a 13.31a 12.56a 147.8a 141.6a Intercropping 1.99b 1.93b 56.99b 55.27b 12.33b 10.81b 149.2a 144.5a No fertilizer 0.93c 1.25c 50.06d 45.91d 9.450d 7.750d 120.8d 113.8d NPK 2.61a 2.39a 62.85b 60.24b 13.84b 12.76b 160.9b 143.7b Poultry manure 1.99b 2.06b 54.33c 58.84c 12.40c 11.49c 150.7c 133.8c NPK + Poultry manure 2.79a 2.53a 65.81a 63.61a 15.58a 14.73a 165.6a 160.9a Table 3. Effect of cropping systems, NPK and poultry manure on yield and yield components of maize at Moloko-ashipa. Treatments Grain yield (t/ha) Cob weight (g) Cob length (cm) Weight of grains (g) Cropping systems Sole cropping 2.12a 2.21a 58.36a 58.09a 14.04a 11.14a 148.5a 138.9a Intercropping 1.91b 2.00b 56.98b 56.60b 12.80b 9.400b 143.9a 137.2a No fertilizer 0.85c 0.95c 49.83d 52.94c 10.04d 7.113c 116.2d 109.4d NPK 2.50a 2.49a 62.24b 59.65b 14.31b 11.30a 155.1b 147.7b Poultry manure NPK + poultry manure 2.04b 2.66a 2.19b 2.60a 53.98c 64.64a 53.65c 13.46c 63.14a 15.88a 10.76ab 11.90a 149.6c 131.1c 163.9a 163.8a nted at a spacing of 1 m x 1 m to obtain a plant population of 10,000 plants ha -1 while maize and melon were planted at a spacing of 1 m x 1 m at 2 plants/stand to achieve a plant population of 20,000 plants ha -1, respectively. The plots were weeded manually whenever necessary throughout the experimental period. Maize was harvested at maturity and air dried to 12% moisture content. Melon was also harvested at maturity and processed thereafter. Cassava was harvested 12 months after planting. Data were collected on maize plant height at harvest, leaf area, cob weight cob length weight of 1000 grains, grain yield, average melon ball weight, melon seed yield, average weight of cassava tuber and root yield. Land equivalent ratio (LER) was calculated using the formula of Fisher (1977). The data were subjected to statistical analysis according to the procedure for factorial in randomized complete block design Means were compared using Duncan s Multiple Range Tests (DMRT) RESULTS Cropping systems significantly affected all the characters investigated except the weight of 1000 grains from both locations. Intercropping reduced maize growth, yields and yield components relative to sole cropping over two seasons for both locations (Table 2). Application of NPK and poultry manure significantly increased grain yields and other parameters investigated. Complementary application gave the highest values. Maize grain yield followed the same trend in both location for the planting seasons and the trend was NPK + poultry manure > NPK > poultry manure > no fertilizer. Grain yields were not statistically different under complementary application of NPK and poultry manure fertilizer and application of NPK fertilizer alone (Tables 2 and 3). Melon when planted sole gave significantly higher seed yield and average ball weight than when intercropped with cassava and maize. At both locations, no fertilizer (control) gave the least seed yield. Seed yield was not significantly different between the application of NPK fertilizer alone and complementary application of NPK fertilizer and poultry manure. Data on cassava fresh tuber yield and average number of tubers per plot are shown in Table 4. Cropping system effect was not significant for fresh tuber and average number of tubers per plot at 2000 and 2001 from both stations. There were significant differences among the fertilizers applied for fresh tuber yield and average number of tubers per plot. Averaged across cassava fresh tuber yield from both stations in 2000 and 2001, comple-

4 Adebola et al. 094 Table 4. Melon seed yield and average ball weight as affected by cropping system, NPK and poultry manure. Treatments Oniyo Moloko-Ashipa Melon seed yield (kg/ha) Average ball weight (g) Melon seed yield (t/ha) Average ball weight (g) Cropping system Sole cropping 193.5a 208.1a 710.1a 848.7a 207.4a 208.0a 672.6a 759.1a Intercropping 101.7b 94.96b 627.9b 779.5b 97.04b 97.11b 597.0b 669.6b No fertilizer 101.7c 101.2c 485.7c 685.9c 105.5c 103.6c 513.8d 595.5c NPK 163.2a 177.3a 715.5b 859.8ab 173.5a 177.3a 676.4b 745.3b Poultry manure 157.1b 155.9b 704.9b 810.5b 153.4b 157.2b 621.1c 721.9b NPK + Poultry manure 167.9a 171.3a 770.0a a 176.5a 170.3a 727.9a 794.7a

5 095 Int. J. Manures Table 5. Fresh root yield and average number of tubers of cassava as affected by cropping systems, NPK and poultry manure. Treatments Oniyo Moloko-Ashipa Cassava tuber Average wt of tubers/plant (g) Cassava tuber Average wt of yield (t/ha) yield (t/ha) tubers/plant (g) Cropping system Sole cropping 21.34a 22.70a 137.4a 138.3a 21.34a 20.48a 141.4a 146.7a Intercropping 20.40a 20.92a 135.2a 133.0a 20.40a 20.20a 142.8a 143.7a No fertilizer 13.99c 14.44c 110.2c 112.3d 13.99c 10.49d 117.0c 115.8c NPK 23.95b 23.58b 132.4ab 142.4b 23.95a 23.61b 149.8ab 155.3ab Poultry manure 20.29b 23.09b 129.1b 127.4c 20.29b 21.51c 141.4b 148.9b NPK + Poultry manure 25.25a 26.14a 135.7a 160.6a 25.25a 25.75a 160.4a 160.9a Table 6. Mean values of Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) for the two years. Location Sole cropping Intercropping Maize Melon Cassava Oniyo Moloko-Ashipa Mean LER mentary application of poultry manure and NPK fertilizer gave the highest values compared to the application of NPK fertilizer or poultry manure alone. However, no fertilizer (control) gave the least values. The average values of Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) based on the sole crop yields of individual crop for the two years are shown in Table 6. For both years, the intercrop combination gave LER greater than 2. On the average, the highest LER (2.12) was got under complementary application of NPK fertilizer and poultry manure followed by NPK fertilizer alone (2.03) and poultry manure alone (1.83). The least LER was recorded under no fertilizer (control) from Oniyo (1.43) and Moloko-Ashipa (1.41). DISCUSSION The results have indicated that regardless of agroecology and fertilizer application, the yield of maize was reduced by the associated cassava and melon, as reported by other workers (Okpara and Omaliko, 1995; Muoneke and Asiegbu, 1997). The reduction was attributed to inter-specific competition for nutrients, moisture and/or space. The poor performance of melon when intercropped with maize and cassava has been attributed mainly to shading by the taller maize and cassava. Ikeorgu (1984) observed that yields from melon grown in mixtures are often lower than 50% of those from sole crops. It was also noted in a trial conducted in IITA (1974) that melon component in a cassava/maize/melon mixture performed poorly because of shading effect of higher component crops. In traditional agriculture, melon is rarely planted solely; it is often intercropped with cassava, maize, yam and other food crops where it performs the role of a cover crop and it helps to smother weeds early in the growing season (Ikeorgu, 1984). It also reduces soil temperature and evaporation, thus conserving soil moisture. Ghuman and Lal (1987) observed that soil surface remained moist in the intercrop during an unexpected dry spell of 6-8 days when compared to situations under monoculture of maize and yam. They also found that maize intercropped with melon never showed any sign of even temporary wilting on hot afternoons, in contrast with monoculture check. Intercropping had no significant effect on cassava yields. The fact that cassava is a long duration crop and has an initial slow growth rate allows it to recover from the earlier competition effects when intercropped with maize and melon. Some studies have shown that cassava yield was reduced by intercropping while other reports did not indicate any significant reduction in yield in comparison with sole crop. Sinthuprama (1978) reported that cassava growth was initially retarded when intercropped with maize but it was possible to get a high proportion of its sole crop yield. CIAT (1980) also found that the yield of cassava intercropped with groundnut was similar to sole crop yield. CIAT (1977) reported low

6 Adebola et al. 096 cassava yields in studies evaluating the performance of cassava in cassava/maize, cassava/sweet potato and cassava/cocoyam associations. The cassava crop also gave 78% of its sole crop yield giving a land equivalent ratio (LER) of 1.71 in trials carried out in central America. In some situations the total LER was as high as Yield advantages of between 58 and 77 percent were also recorded in cassava/maize association in southern Nigeria (IITA, 1982). Cassava, maize and melon performed best in terms of growth and yield under poultry manure + NPK fertilizer treatments in both years. This is in agreement with the findings of Titiloye (1982) who reported that the most satisfactory method of increasing maize yield was by judicious combination of organic wastes and inorganic fertilizers. Agboola (1970) advocated for better farming systems which employ a combination of fertility building practices appropriate to local conditions for crop production in south west Nigeria. It has been observed that addition of manure increases soil water holding capacity and this means that nutrient would be made available to crops where manure has been added to the soil (Costa et al., 1991). Fuchs et al. (1970) also reported that nutrients from mineral fertilizers enhance the establishment of crops while those from mineralization of organic manure promoted yield when both fertilizers were combined. Murwira and Kirchman (1993) observed that nutrient use efficiency might be increased through the combination of manure and mineral fertilizer. The yield of maize and melon under NPK fertilizer treatment was comparable to that form NPK + poultry manure treatment because nutrients are readily released form inorganic fertilizer and these crops were able to utilize it for growth and yield. Crop yield were lower under poultry manure probably because of low mineralization of nutrient from this source. Titiloye (1982) found that organic waste / fertilizer alone could hardly be depended upon as the sole source of nutrient for a short duration crop like maize. On the average, the combined application of NPK fertilizer and poultry manure appeared satisfactory for obtaining high grain yield of maize, seed yield of melon and fresh tuber yield of cassava. The trend of cassava yield was NPK + poultry manure>npk alone>poultry manure > no fertilizer. This indicates that cassava was still able to utilize residual nutrients from both NPK and poultry manure to produce bigger tubers in the fertilized plots after early season maize and melon had been harvested. The choice of crops for this study was based mainly on the popularity of the crops among farmers in the south west area of Nigeria. Cassava is particularly suitable for intercropping because it is a long duration crop. 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